Jimmy Barnes
I used to think anyone with abandonment issues was a waste of space. But you do need to get help. Blokes don't talk about those things. It's a taboo in the bloke world.Collection: Space
I always thought I could be brave and charge at things and smash 'em and walk away, but it takes courage to sit and look at things and say, 'This is what I am. How do I fix it? How do I live with it?'Collection: Courage
I think tax is tough in this country. Every time I sign a cheque to pay tax, it drives me crazy. But at the same time, I'm happy to live here. I want to have a good medical system, good education, good roads, so it's a Catch 22. I hate it, but it's a necessary evil.Collection: Medical
Jim Swan was my father, but Reg Barnes was my dad.Collection: Dad
My dad was a prize fighter in his youth. My boxing skills are very limited. I did train for most of my youth but couldn't really see the point of getting punched in the head. I'm a lover, not a fighter, but I do enjoy the sport in its purest form. As a child, my heroes were my dad and Muhammad Ali.Collection: Dad
I love spending money. I always have.
I know I've made a lot of mistakes, but I've done some good things along the way.
Where I lived in Glasgow looked like Dresden after the war. It was a bomb site. I don't think I'd ever played football on grass until I moved to Australia.
My dad was a womaniser, a gambler. He was violent. They thought if they left Scotland, they would leave the problems behind.
Thais are one of the nicest people I've ever met. It's not called the land of smiles for nothing.
I've been writing books because it's been my way of dealing with the demons. The act of sitting down and writing the books down has started healing process that's been long overdue.
I'm one of those people who can't sit still. I like to be doing something. I cook; I've been painting.
I was lucky I was blessed with the constitution of a horse.
There's something about the energy and the expectations that an audience projects at you. I get up on stage and work and work, and there's chaos all around me, then I'll shut my eyes, and boom! I slot into the zone. It's like the eye of the hurricane. Everything is easy, and I'm capable of doing things I didn't know I was.
I learned that the public and the press don't need to know everything about you, or they might turn on you.
As a teenager, I didn't really think about anything. I was just stumbling around trying to find something.
I think I got stamina from my dad, although he didn't have a lot of drive.
Cold Chisel had their moments, but basically, they were all decent, quiet chaps. I was just a lunatic. Those guys didn't know what had hit them when I joined the band.
My childhood in Adelaide was filled with sport. I played soccer from morning until night.
If there was one thing I tried to instil in my children as they were growing up, it was that you get nothing for nothing. You have to work hard to get any rewards. That applies in music or whatever you choose to do. The same goes in relationships; you will only get back what you put in.
I find that cooking is relaxing and makes me feel at home.
I don't want to become a laid-back artist by any stretch of the imagination.
I'm an immigrant.
Politicians have been spreading fear, saying if we're letting in refugees, we're letting in terrorists. It's not the truth. We've got to recognise the difference between terrorism and people who are refugees; people who are struggling.
I hate fear politics.
I wouldn't give Peter Dutton any of my time. It's a waste of time speaking to someone like him because they just spread lies and propaganda. He doesn't represent me, he doesn't care about people, and I wouldn't give him the time of day, to tell you the truth.
No matter what day we celebrate Australia Day, let's celebrate it together and give thanks to the original inhabitants of this vast country. We are lucky to be sharing it with them.
There are new children arriving and trying to reach our lucky country every day, and I hope that we can all work together to help them find their dream, too.
I never take for granted how great Australia is and how well I have been treated here, so thank you for this chance at making a good life.
The best times in Cold Chisel were when we were all in the back of the car together, us against the world.
Success isn't about reaching your goals; it's about striving for things, like the joy of trying to raise a family, trying to be a successful singer, trying to write good songs, trying to be a better person. It's that old thing about life being about the journey, not the destination.
For a long time, it was all about chart position. 'If my record doesn't come in at No. 1, I'm a failure.' I cared too much about what people thought of me, and that was symptomatic of the trauma from my childhood.
'Working Class Man' is my second memoir and is a continuation of my story from where 'Working Class Boy' left off. The book is really an attempt at explaining the impact of my childhood on myself and the ones I loved as an adult.
Most people I know think that I'm crazy - but anybody who actually knew Billy Thorpe didn't think that. When I was a young kid growing up in Adelaide, he was a big pop star - a well-dressed, nice young guy seen on television every week. Mums liked him.
In 1972, I climbed out of my bedroom window and ran away from home with my older sister and her friends to go to the infamous Sunbury rock festival.
If anything, I label myself as sort of Buddhist. My wife Jane is Buddhist.
All the religions are basically good, but there's something about organised religion that leads to corruptness and poison.
When I first started, all the reviews of Cold Chisel would say, 'This singer won't have a voice in six months.'
I was probably born an alcoholic.
I'm hyperactive.
I think it's criminal the way poverty is allowed to flourish.
I used to think I was tough, but there's a difference between bravado and courage, and I only started to show courage when I began to get help. So now I make a point of telling people, 'Hey, it's a good thing to ask for help, not a bad thing.'
I know that life is full of lessons to be learned, and my children will have to learn their own, but I hope I have broken the cycle of shame and fear that plagued my childhood.
It's one of the beautiful things about Australia that people do get to share this life here, away from trouble.
We're a whole country full of migrants - we need each other, and we should help each other.
Around 2001, I went to rehab in Arizona, and I started to see what was going on and how the past affected me. I started to get a grip on it. But over the next decade, I reverted to the behaviour I used to protect myself when I was young - being mindless, being defeatist and full of bravado.
My mum and dad came from lower-working-class Glasgow, which was tough. Literally, if you see a cat there with a tail, it's a tourist.
Where I grew up, there were times when we didn't have anything to eat.
Everything that happened to me as a child was the perfect breeding ground for a rock n' roll singer. It toughened me up. I was on edge; I was needy. I needed people to like me 'cause it made me feel safe... and that gave me confidence.
You see politicians talking about negative gearing or tax on your second home - most people I knew growing up couldn't afford the rent, let alone buying a house, or a second house.